HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- After 10 hours of deliberation and word this morning they were deadlocked, a Madison County jury found a former Providence School aide guilty of sodomy.

Michael Horton, 37, appeared stunned by the verdict and his wife, wracked with sobs following the jury's decision, later insisted her husband was innocent.

But Madison County Assistant District Attorney Tim Gann said justice was done and that the jury's long deliberations reflected the hard work they put into the case, examining every piece of evidence.

"It has been a very long process, but justice was served today, the jury got this case exactly right," Gann said. "It has been a long, long haul for this young man and I'm just happy today he was vindicated.

Horton was accused of sex by forcible coercion involving a child staying at his home, a charge that carries a possible life sentence. He was also charged with second-degree sodomy – sex with a person younger than 16-older than 12, but that charge was dropped before the trial began.

The sexual encounters began in 2008, Gann said, after the boy moved into the home of Horton and his wife, at the request of the child's mother.

Gann said Horton was a mentor figure for the child, but the child testified Monday that after he moved in, Horton forced him into sex acts.

Horton denied the claims during his own testimony and his defense attorneys argued the story was concocted.

Horton's wife Pauletta was distraught following the verdict, but later spoke to reporters. She stressed that her husband was innocent.

"I'm devastated," she said. "It's my husband, he didn't do it. If I knew he was some kind of monster who did that to a child I would not be with him. I love him and justice was not served today.

She said they have a 2-year-old son.

"It's heartbreaking, he's a man of God, he loves people, loves children," she said. "We've always tried to help people and it backfired, because of some child who was upset. My husband is an innocent man."

Gann said he understand the family's reaction, but said Horton was guilty. Gann said Horton failed two polygraph tests – which are inadmissible in court – one that Horton paid for and another administered by the Huntsville Police Department at the request of the Madison Police Department.

"He failed those tests miserably," Gann said. "According to the polygraphers that conducted the tests, he was 115 percent deceptive on the relevant questions."

The case has taken several turns. Horton, a former 10-year employee of the Huntsville City Schools was arrested in 2009. The case was set for trial last fall, but prosecutors asked for a continuance, telling the court they were having difficulty ensuring the cooperation of the alleged victim in the case.

The case was reset for January but two weeks before the trial, the prosecution notified the court it was going to drop the charges and filed formal notice of that decision, citing the unwillingness of the alleged victim to cooperate.

But a week later they notified the court they would go forward with the case. The prosecution also notified the defense that the alleged victim had asked for four tires for his foster family's car in exchange for the testimony.

The defense then asked for a continuance, citing the tire request as an issue they had to review as it related to the child's credibility.

The case began Monday with jurors hearing about the tires and the differing accounts of what happened. They began deliberating Wednesday afternoon and deliberated nearly all day Thursday.

After the jurors returned Friday they deliberated for nearly an hour before notifying the court they were deadlocked and didn't think they could reach a verdict. Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis O'Dell addressed the jury and issued a so-called "dynamite charge" where the court urges the jury to continue deliberations, bearing in mind the cost of a trial, the duty to the parties involved and the fact they have all the evidence before them.

Not quite two hours later the jury came back and reported the guilty verdict.